Benefit suspense comedy revives Riverside Theater

CLAYTON — A community theater group in this village has been revived and is expanding its scope to present dinner-theater shows and to generally put more on its plate.

Riverside Theater was the creation of Clayton resident Elizabeth J. “Betty” Giles, who died last March. She was the former manager of the Clayton Opera House and her obituary noted that, for her, “theater was a form of evangelism.” She favored presenting small-scale mysteries in the Clayton area.

“We decided it was time to do something,” said Barry Pratt of Watertown, who spearheaded the revival effort. “We got together with Rotary and said, ‘Let’s put something together to see if we can put something back on stage again.’”

The Rotary Club of Clayton is sponsor of a dinner-theater performance by Riverside Theater Company of the comedy “Murder at the Howard Johnson’s” Friday and Saturday at Clayton Opera House. Benefiting the Rotary Scholarship Fund, the proceeds will support graduates of the Thousand Islands and Lafargeville Central school districts.

Mr. Pratt, manager of the opera house, is directing the production, which involves three people with murderous intent who occupy three rooms at a Howard Johnson’s motel.

“We’re going to start trying to do more and more local theater,” Mr. Pratt said. “This is our coming-out party, in a roundabout way.”

He said “Murder at the Howard Johnson’s” will be a trial run for the revived Riverside Theater Company.

“This show is a coming out to establish the scene to see if it really can be done; if dinner theater is a practical thing to do up here,” he said.

If it is, Mr. Pratt said shows likely will expand in scope.

“Hopefully by next Christmas, we’ll be able to do a musical-type theater with all the bells and whistles,” he said.

The company, Mr. Pratt said, consists mainly of people from riverside communities like Clayton, Alexandria Bay and Cape Vincent, but also has people from Watertown and other areas.

“It’s a growing process, and right now it’s in the process of convincing the community that this is something to get on board with,” Mr. Pratt said. “I’m more than halfway there with it.”

“Murder at the Howard Johnson’s” was written by Ron Clark and Sam Bobrick. It had a brief run on Broadway in 1979. The suspense comedy concerns a love triangle in a Howard Johnson Motor Inn on New Year’s Eve.

“Mitchell, an obvious and commonplace dentist who sees himself as the dashing, heroic type, and Arlene, a middle aged ‘Femme Fatale’ of sorts, plan to murder her husband Paul, a blundering used car salesman,” according to a description from the Samuel French licensing agency. “In the second episode, having discovered that Mitchell has been unfaithful, Arlene allies herself with Paul to do away with Mitchell. In the third episode, the two men, feeling foolish and betrayed themselves, join forces against Arlene.”

“It’s a spoof and kind of like a comedy of errors,” Mr. Pratt said. “You just walk away feeling good. ...”

The cast of Clayton Riverside Theater’s production of “Murder at the Howard Johnson’s”:

Katie Ferlito is Arlene Miller. Miss Ferlito was raised in Mannsville, and is a graduate of South Jefferson Central School and Jefferson Community College. This is her acting debut in a lead role, but she is no stranger to the stage. She began dancing with the Newton Dance Company of Adams at the age of 3 and continued as a student and assistant dance instructor until the age of 18, as well as dancing with the South Jefferson Dance Company at her high school. She was assistant dance instructor and performed in South Jefferson Central School’s performance of “The Music Man” and choreographed and performed in the Dionysians Players’s “Rent” at JCC. She works at Watertown Center for Sight.

Cameron Young is Paul Miller. Mr. Young has been active in theater for many years, from participating in smaller shows in high school to more recently doing shows such as “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown” and “Rent” for Jefferson Community College, Watertown. The Harrisville Central School graduate is also a member of the Harrisville-based Celtic group Fraser Family and Friends. He works for Westelcom.

Andrew Shelmidine is Dr. Mitchell Lovell. Mr. Shelmidine, a JCC graduate, performed in last year’s Little Theatre of Watertown production of “Flamingo Court” as Arthur. In 2011 he also portrayed Mr. Hyde in the JCC production of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” He is a security officer at New York Air Brake over the fall and winter months and at Sackets Harbor Battlefield during the spring and summer.